Electric Light Orchestra is an English rock band that released eleven studio albums between 1971 and 1986. Conceived by multi-instrumentalists Roy Wood and Jeff Lynne, ELO started as an avant-garde spinoff of The Move with drummer Bev Bevan. After one album of psychedelic baroque rock, Wood departed for Wizzard, leaving Lynne to head a septet […]
The Idle Race was an English pop-psych band from Birmingham, best known for the 1967 single “Imposters of Life’s Magazine” and the 1968/69 albums The Birthday Party and Idle Race. Singer Jeff Lynne joined Roy Wood in The Move, which morphed into the Electric Light Orchestra. Members: Greg Masters (bass, vocals, 1966-72), Roger Spencer (drums, […]
Galliard was an English brass-rock band from Birmingham that released the 1969/70 Deram albums Strange Pleasure and New Dawn. Frontman Geoff Brown continued in the mid-’70s jazz-funk combo Muscles. Along with Colosseum, Heaven, Brainchild, the Greatest Show on Earth, and the Keef Hartley Band, Galliard represented a UK wing of the brass-laden jazz-rock-soul sound, reflecting […]
Steve Winwood (born May 12, 1948) is an English vocalist, keyboardist, and songwriter from Birmingham who emerged as the voice of the Spencer Davis Group, which he joined in 1963 at age 15. After four years, three proper albums, and assorted singles with the band — including the soul-rock evergreens “Gimme Some Lovin’” and “I’m […]
The Spencer Davis Group was an English R&B/beat band from Birmingham, fronted by teenage singer–keyboardist Steve Winwood. Signed to Fontana, they released three albums during 1965–66 comprised mostly of blues and soul covers. Though the band was democratic, they made guitarist/singer Spencer Davis their namesake because he was the only member willing to field journalists. […]
The World of Oz was an English pop-psych band from Birmingham that released a self-titled album on Deram in 1969. Members: Christopher Robin [Chris Evans, aka Garbo] (vocals, guitar), Tony Clarkson (bass), David Kubinec (guitar, organ, 1968), David Reay (drums, 1968-?), Geoff Nicholls (organ, 1968-69), Rob Moore (drums), Peter Beckett (guitar, 1969) The World of […]
Delegation were an English soul-funk band from Birmingham that released the album The Promise of Love on State Records in 1977, followed by three further albums on Ariola between 1979 and 1982. Members: Ricky Bailey (vocals), Len Coley (vocals, 1975-79), Roddy Harris (vocals, 1975-80), Bruce Edwin Dunbar (vocals, 1979-84), Aston Ray Patterson (vocals, 1980-?), Kathy […]
Quartz were an English hard-rock/metal band from Birmingham that released a self-titled album on Jet Records in 1977, followed by Stand Up and Fight on MCA in 1980. The band’s intended third album, recorded circa 1981/82, was ultimately released more than three decades later as Too Hot to Handle. In 1983, the band released Against […]
Hard Meat was an English psychedelic hard-rock band from Birmingham that released two albums on Warner Bros. in 1969/70. Members: Michael Dolan (electric guitar, acoustic guitar, harmonica, lead vocals), Steve Dolan (electric bass, string bass, acoustic guitar, vocals), Mick Carless (drums, percussion), Pete Westbrook (flute, 1970), Phil Jump (keyboards, 1970) Hard Meat was formed in […]
Musical Youth were an English pop-reggae band from Birmingham that released the album The Youth of Today on MCA in 1982, followed by Different Style! on the label in 1983. Members: Michael Grant (keyboards, vocals), Kelvin Grant (guitar, vocals), Dennis Seaton (lead vocals, percussion), Patrick Waite (bass, vocals), Freddie “Junior” Waite (drums, vocals) Discography: The […]
Magnum was an English hard-rock band from Birmingham that released four studio albums and a live disc on Jet Records between 1978 and 1983, followed by four further albums on Polydor between 1985 and 1990. Members: Bob Catley (vocals), Tony Clarkin (guitar), Dave Morgan (bass, 1972-75), Kex Gorin (drums, 1972-83), Colin “Wally” Lowe (bass, 1975-95), […]
The Ghost was an English folk-psych band from Birmingham that released the album When You’re Dead – One Second on Gemini in 1970. The prior year, guitarist/singer Paul Eastment recorded one album with psych-rockers Velvett Fogg. Members: Paul Eastment (vocals, guitar), Terry Guy (keyboards, vocals), Charlie Grima (drums), Daniel MacGuire (bass, vocals), Shirley Kent (vocals, […]
The Au Pairs were an English art-punk/funk band from Birmingham that released two singles on small-press 021 Records in 1979/80, followed by the 1981/82 albums Playing With a Different Sex on Human Records and Sense and Sensuality on Kamera. Members: Lesley Woods (vocals, guitar), Paul Foad (guitar, vocals), Pete Hammond (drums), Jane Munro (bass, vocals, […]
The J.A.L.N. Band were an English soul-funk septet from Birmingham that released three albums on Magnet between 1976 and 1978. The band’s name is an acronym for “just another lonely night.” Members: Roy Gee Hemmings (vocals), Tex Flint (saxophone), Willis Sylvester (saxophone), Steve Sylvester (bass, percussion), Charlie Sylvester (guitar), Sam Fortune (vocals, keyboards, percussion), Ronnie […]
The Lilac Time is an English sophisti-pop band, formed in 1986 by singer Stephen Duffy. Their initial run produced three albums on Fontana between 1988 and 1990. Members: Stephen Duffy (vocals, guitar), Nick Duffy (accordion, banjo, strings), Michael Giri (percussion, drums), Bob Lamb (percussion, production), Sagat Guirey (guitar), Frazer Kent (bass), Mickey Harris (bass), Caroline […]
Duran Duran are an English electro/art-pop band from Birmingham that released three albums on EMI between 1981 and 1983: Duran Duran, Rio, and Seven and the Ragged Tiger. They scored multiple transatlantic hits, including “Planet Earth,” “Girls on Film,” “Hungry Like the Wolf,” “Save a Prayer,” “Is There Something I Should Know,” “New Moon on […]
Dexys Midnight Runners were an English New Wave/soul-pop band from Birmingham that released the album Searching for the Young Soul Rebels on EMI/Parlophone in 1980, followed by two albums on Mercury between 1982 and 1985. Initially inspired by Stax/Volt and two-tone, Dexys reinvented itself for each album, from the ragamuffin Celt-pop of the second lineup […]
The Bureau were an English New Wave/ska band from Birmingham that released a self-titled album on WEA in 1981. Four of the band’s initial seven members were in the original lineup of Dexys Midnight Runners. Members: Archie Brown (vocals), Pete Williams (bass), Rob Jones (guitar, 1980-81), ‘Stoker’ [aka Andy Growcott] (drums), Mick Talbot, Geoff Blythe […]
The Beat was an English New Wave/ska-reggae band from Birmingham that debuted with a single on 2 Tone Records in 1979, followed by three albums on self-press Go-Feet Records between 1980 and 1982. The albums were issued on I.R.S. in the U.S., where the band was alternately billed as “The English Beat.” The frontal pair […]
The Dog That Bit People was an English four-piece that released a self-titled album on Parlophone in 1971. The band was formed by bassist Mick Hincks and drummer Bob Lamb after the breakup of their prior outfit Locomotive. Members: John Caswell (guitar, vocals), Mick Hincks (bass, vocals), Keith Millar (guitar, keyboards, Mellotron, vocals), Bob Lamb […]
